Joint special meeting of the Counter-Terrorism Committee and the ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee on latest terrorism financing trends and threats, as well as the implementation of Security Council resolution 2462 (2019)

22 November 2021– “All around the globe, terrorists and terrorist groups continue to raise funds through a wide variety of means, including the abuse of legitimate enterprises and non-profit organizations; the exploitation of natural resources, donations, and crowdfunding; and a range of criminal activities.”, noted H.E. Mr. Tarek Ladeb, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Tunisia to the United Nations and Chair of the Counter-Terrorism Committee.

On Thursday, 18 November 2021, the Counter-Terrorism Committee and the ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee held a joint special meeting at United Nations Headquarters, New York, on “Terrorist-financing threats and trends and the implementation of Security Council resolution 2462 (2019)”.

The joint special meeting was held pursuant to paragraph 36 of resolution 2462 (2019), the first Council resolution exclusively devoted to preventing and suppressing the financing of terrorism. Held in hybrid format, the meeting was attended by representatives of Member States and a broad range of United Nations and other partners, including international and regional organizations and civil society organizations.

The discussions served to highlight numerous trends and evolving threats in the area of terrorism financing, including, inter alia, financing methods currently used by UN-designated terrorist organizations (e.g., the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), also known as Daesh, and Al-Qaida), as well as by other types of terrorists, including those motivated by xenophobia, racism and other forms of intolerance; linkages between terrorism financing and transnational organized crime; abuse of new technologies and payment methods such as virtual assets and crowdfunding; the raising of funds for terrorist purposes through exploitation of natural resources; risks associated with the use of cash and money and value transfer services; and region-specific risks and vulnerabilities (presented by several FATF-Style Regional Bodies (FSRBs)). It was noted that, if States and relevant financial institutions do not understand the nature of current risks and threats, they cannot adequately prevent or respond to abuses for terrorism-financing purposes.

In her introductory remarks, Assistant Secretary-General Michèle Coninsx, Executive Director of the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), said, “If Member States are to keep pace with the rapid evolution in financial tools and terrorism-financing methods, there is an urgent need to enhance the specialized expertise of personnel engaged in handling increasingly complex cases that involve advanced investigation techniques and complex international cooperation mechanisms”.

Mr. Edmund Fitton-Brown, Coordinator of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team pursuant to resolutions 1526 (2004) and 2253 (2015) concerning ISIL (Da'esh), Al-Qaida and the Taliban and associated individuals and entities, noted an emerging consensus that ISIL’s financial resources were depleted, although far from gone, adding that recent assessments put the group’s financial reserves at between $25 million and $50 million.

“An enduring concern are the thousands of ISIL fighters and their family members who remain in detention or in displaced persons camps in the region. Financial flows in and out of these facilities suggest that the risk of terrorism financing remains high”, he stated.

Dr. Marcus Pleyer, President of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), noted that “many countries still don’t understand the risks to look out for to stop funding for terrorism. This is despite the adoption of UNSCR 2462, which consolidated obligations on terrorist financing for the first time in a UN instrument”.

Other participants also emphasized the importance of remaining dynamic while responding to terrorism financing threats.

The joint special meeting served to highlight practical experiences of several Member States in implementing effective responses, underscoring good practices to be followed by other jurisdictions, as well as remaining challenges, including measures to enhance the integration and use of financial intelligence in terrorism-related cases; effective implementation of asset-freezing mechanisms; and the implementation of the risk-based monitoring and supervision of virtual asset service providers (VASPs).

As noted in a issued in June 2020 by CTED and the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team, many States also continue to face challenges with respect to the institutionalization of public-private partnerships, integration of human rights obligations into CFT measures, and cooperation with civil society actors in developing policies to ensure risk-based supervision of the non-profit sector. In this regard, the meeting also addressed efforts to assist Member States to conduct periodic risk assessments of their non-profit sectors to inform the implementation of risk-based approaches.

A concept note for the open meeting can be found here.

The agenda is available here.

Photos from the open meeting are accessible .

The full broadcast of the meeting is available .

A summary of the meeting is available here.

Remarks and presentations shared by the participants:

Introductory session